Romel de la Torre • Biography
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Born in Cebu City, Philippines in a community of artists, Romel de la Torre's artistic interest started at a very young age. With the encouragement of his parents he began sketching the world around him. He started getting awards and recognition from school competitions and at age 10 appeared on TV after receiving a medal for his painting.

In the late 70's Romel and his family migrated to the United States where he began going to museums studying and learning on his own; works of famous artists like Sargent, Sorolla, Fechin, Mucha, and the American Impressionists. The exposure to these masters' paintings laid a strong foundation to his belief of what great art is.

He attended the American Academy of Art in Chicago, where he was awarded the President's Foundation Award and the Union League Scholarship Award. After graduating with a fine arts concentration, Romel continued to paint in the Chicago area and joined The Palette and Chisel Academy of Fine Arts, where he began painting with nationally renowned artist Richard Schmid and a community of other painters. It was a turning point of his creative and artistic career.

"My painting is the world, channeled through my eyes, through the prism of my own feeling, emotions and preferences. It is a unity of the visual world and the internal, abstraction and realism..." the artist's says. A consummate artist in all media, Romel de la Torre is one of today's most highly regarded artists. His figures, landscape, portraits, and still life paintings display unparalleled technical skill, fluid style, and thorough understanding of light, color, form and design.

The artist has been painting full time and currently instructs advanced painting and portraiture at The Palette and Chisel Academy on Fine Arts, Chicago. He is a signature member of the Oil Painters of America & the Portrait Society of America; his oils, pastels, watercolors, and portraits are housed in private collections throughout the United States and several foreign countries. His paintings have been published in The Artists Magazine, Southwest Art Magazine, U.S. Art Magazine and the American Art Collectors Magazine.

Among his most important honors are the Oil Painters of America National Exhibition/ Grand Prize and the Artists Magazine Portrait Artist of the Year. His most recent award includes; 2007 Raymar Fine Arts Competition, 2008 Gold Medal & the People's Choice Award from the Palette & Chisel Academy of Fine Arts Gold Medal show and one of the top finalist in the 2007 and 2008 International Portrait Competition given by the prestigious Portrait Society of America.

Artist's statement: "I find spiritual beauty in all the things that I paint. The innocence of a child's face, the endless blue color of the sky, the smell of flowers in the garden, the sound of raindrops falling on the roof. These gives joy in my heart, inspiration, and gratitude… of being an artist."

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